I don’t really know why I did such a long day. I had my plan all laid out to finish my hike at the 15th, and that plan included an easy day today, a bit harder tomorrow, and then only 5 miles into highway 20 and a day of resting at the Dinsmores. Instead, I did a really long day today, just so I can get to the highway tomorrow after noon, sleep at the Dinsmores and head out on the next day. So I’ll be done one day earlier, I guess.

After a very good night’s sleep, I got up at 6:00 and packed my stuff. Dima was up as well, and was ready to get me back up to the trail by 7:00.

Today I had a long day of rest and relaxation. Just what I needed before I head out to the cold. The plan was to get a ride back up to Snoqualamie Pass tonight, but my generous hosts, Yulia and Dima, offered to take me up there tomorrow morning. So it was a full zero down in Bellevue.

I woke up in the middle night, and heard some noises coming from the direction of the spring. It sounded a bit like an animal barking. Sizzler later told me it might have been coyotes. Maybe. It was strange. I kept trying to figure out if the barks are getting closer to my tent, and getting ready to go outside and make some noise to scare them away. But they remained far off at the spring, and I drowsed back to sleep.

Phew, last night was tough. All three of us were tented inside the hut, up in the loft. And it was very hot up there. The trail maintainers kept the stove on, and all the heat came up to make a dry sauna around us.